Trolley-retriever.



N.'W. CHAMBERLIN & L. V. MOULTON.

TROLLEY RBTRIEVER.

APPLIOATION'HLED APR. a. 19os.`

Patented Jan. 5.1909.

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UNITED srATnsrArnNr OFFICE.

NORMAN W. GHAMBERLIN AND LUTHER V. MOULTON, OF GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN; SAID CHAMBERLIN ASSIGNOR TO EMILY M. CHAMBERLIN.

TROLLE Y-RE TRIE VER.

Speccation of Letters Patent.

Application filed April 3, 1908.

To all whom it 'may concern:

Be it known that we7 NORMAN W. CHAM- BERLIN and LUTHER V. MoULroN, citizens of the United States of America, residing at Grand Rapids, in the county of Kent and State of Michigan, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Trolley- Retrievers; and we do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact descri tion of the invention, such as will enab e others skilled in the art to which at appertains to make and use the same.

Our invention relates to trolley pole retrievers, and its object is to provide an improved device for automatically taking up the slack of the cord controlling a trolley pole, and also for rom tly drawing the pole down Whenever t e tro ley Wheel leaves the line, whereby accidental contact of the pole with the stay wires or other obstructions will be effectually prevented.

Our invention consists essentially of the combination and arrangement of a winding drum, a spring permanently attached to the drum to take up the slack of the cord7 a retrieving spring normally held under tension, and means for automatically releasing the retrieving spring and connecting it to the drum to rotate the same, and in various features of combination and arrangement hereinafter more fully described, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1. is an elevation of a device embodying our invention with parts broken away to show the construction; Fig. 2. a vertical section of the same on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3. a detail of the rotative member to which the retrieving spring is attached7 together with parts attached thereto; Fig. 4. a view of the same at right-angles to Fig. 3.; and, Fig. 5. a detail of the hood and a portion of the case.

Like numbers refer to like parts in all of the figures.

1 and 2 are discous heads to the case, spaced apart by a cylindrical shell 3, the heads being preferably cast metal and the shell 3 of sheet metal. These heads are connected and secured to each other by a series of bolts 4 in their periphery, between which lgeads, the shell 3 is securely clamped by the o ts. f

At the top of the case is an opening between the bolts 4a and 4b around which bolts the shell is turned and terminates. This opening is covered by a hood 19 ivoted on the bolt 4b and extending above tie opening and thence upward, within the upper and movable part of which hood is journaled a roller 20 to engage the cord 9. This cord extends from the roller upward and is attached to the trolley pole. Passing beneath the roller and hood and within the case, the cord is wound upon the drum 8-on a shaft 7, which shaft rotates therewith in journals formed by inwardly projecting bosses 5 and 6 on the respective heads of the case.

Attached to the boss 5 is an involute spring 10, the outer end of which spring is attached to the drum 8 and rotates the drum with sufficient force to roperly take up the slack of the cord 9 and) pay out the same,

as the trolley pole rises and falls in travers1 Y ing the trolley wheel on the line wire. A retrieving spring 11 of considerably greater power is also provided having its inner end secured to the inner end of the boss 6 and its outer end secured to a lug 13 on a disk l2 journaled on the boss 6 between the head 2 and a collar 14 on the end of the said boss, the function of the collar being to space outward the inner end of the spring 1l and revent it from binding on the hub of the isk. This disk is freely rotative on the boss and is turned with considerable force in the same direction that the spring 10 turns the Winding drum by means of the spring 11.

To hold the spring 11 under tension and to connect the disk with the Winding drum as hereafter' described, a radially projecting dog 15 has a cylindrical head 26 j ournaled in an opening in the disk, and has a limited movement in a radial opening in the edge of the l disk. This dog is engaged by a shoulder 18 in the lower side of the flange of the hood 19 and the disk thus held from rotating with the spring under tension. This hood' is limited in movement about the axis of the bolt 4b by means of a lug 21 extending through a slot in .the head 2 of the case. When the lug is in the lower end of the slot, the shoulder will engage the dog 15. The outer end of this lug 21 is oppositely inclined and engaged by a spring 22 having corresponding oppositely inclined surfaces and provided with a tensioning screw to adjust the tension of the spring against the lug. The hood is thus held with the shoulder 18 in engagement with the dog 15 until a sudden upwardV pull on the cord 9 overcomes the spring and raises the hood the.

thefupper, end of the. Slot, Wheret is stopped and held by the Spring until manually de.- pressed. Fixed on the head 26 of the dog l5 is a hook 16 so positioned as to engage and disengage a series of ratchet teeth 1.5 inwardly rejecting` from the winding drum 8, as the og 15 oscillates inthe radial opening. When the latter is engaged by the shoulder 1 8, the hook 16will be disengaged from the ratchet teeth' and a spring 24 is provided which engages the hook 16 and throws the same outward into engagement with the ratchet when the dog is released. This spring may be omitted and the hook thrown out by centrifugal force, if preferred. The device is iirst assembled with the cord 9 wound upon the drum, the hood being raised and the hook 16 engaged with the ratchet teeth 15. By pulling out and unwinding the cord, the springs will both be wound up and put under tension'. By moving the hood 19 downward to the position shownl in the drawings, the shoulder 18 will engage the dog 15, releasing the hook 16 from the ratchet teeth and' holding the spring 11 under tension. The drum will now run freely in either directionexcept as yiel'dingly turned by the spring 1() and thus automatically take'up the slack of the cord 9 when the trolley is running on theli'n'e. i lf the trolley runs orf the line, the sudden upward move# ment of the pole will immediately raise the hood 19, release the dog 15 and engage the hook 16 with the ratchet 15, thus applying the power of both springs to wind the cord on' the drum, whichY combined power is sufficient to overcome the upward tension of the pole and draw4 the same downv below the line wire and any other overhead obstruction.

What we claim is:

1. A trolley retriever comprising a rotative drum having a ratchet, a cord wound on the drum, a rotative dis-k, a take-up spring attached to the drum, a retrieving spring attache'd to the disk, a dog having a limitedl movement on the disk, means for holding and releasino the dog operated by the cord, and a mova le member on the disk` to engage the ratchet when the dog is released and controlled by the dog.

Y2. A trolley retriever comprising aV rotative drum having a ratchet, a cord wound on the drum, a rotative disk, a take-up spring attached to the drum, a retrieving spring attached to the disk, a pivoted dog on the disk, means for holding the dog operated by the cord to release the same, a hook rigidly attached to the dog to engage the ratchet when the dog isV released, and a spring to move the hook. Y

3. In a trolley retriever, a' winding drum, a cord wound on the drum, atake-up s ring inthe drum and attached thereto to ta e up the slack of the cord, a retrieving spring main lala draai, a 'native inm'ba to ,whichl the retrieving spring is attached, aA dog projecting from the rotative member, a

pivoted hood engaging and holding the dog and moved by the cord to release the dog, a

vratchet on the drum and a pivoted hook on the rotative member to engage, the ratchet when the dog is released.

4, In a trolley retriever, the combination of a case having heads each provided with an inwardly projecting boss, a shaft journaledin the bosses, a winding drum mounted on the shaft, a take-up spring attached to one of the bosses at one end and to the drum at the other end, a retrieving spring attached to the other boss at one end, a disk journaled on the last named boss and having a lug to which the other end of the retrieving spring is attached, an inwardly projecting ratchet on the drum, a pivoted hook onthe disk adapted to engage the ratchet, a dog projecting from the disk, a cordwound on the drum, and a hood engaged and moved by the cord and having a shoulder engaging the dog.

5. In a trolley retriever, Vthe combination of a cord, a drum on which the cord is wound, a take-up spring attached to the drum, a rotative disk, aretrieving spring attached to the disk to rotate thel same, a dog having a head pivoted in an opening in thel disk and having a limited movement in a radial slot in the disk, a pivoted hood having a shoulder to engage the dog and provided with a roller engaged by the cord to release the dog, an inwardly projecting ratchet on the drum and a hook rigidly attached to the dog and adapted to engage the ratchet when the dog is released.

6. In a trolley retriever, a winding drum, a take-up spring attached to the drum, a rotative mem engaging and holding a dog on the rotative member, a lug on thev hood and a spring having an oppositely inclined portion engaging the lug to hold the hood in two alternative positions, and a cord wound on the drum and engaging the hood to shift the hood from one positionto the other position. j

7 In a trolley retriever, the combination of cast headsl connected with bolts near the eri hery, a sheet metal shell between said eas and turned about two adjacent bolts leaving an opening therebetween, a hood pivoted on one of said bolts and extending above said opening, aroller in the upper part of the hood, a winding drum in the case and having a take-up spring attached thereto, aV rotative member in the case held by saidV hood and having a retrieving spring attached thereto, a lug on the hood and extending through a slotted openingin the case to limit the movement of the hood, and a spring hav'- jng opposedinclined'snrfaces engaging the 8. In a trolley retriever, the combination er near the drum, a pivoted hood of a case, having cast heads with inwardly projecting bosses, a sheet metal shell between the heads, bolts connecting the heads, a hood pivoted in the upper part of the case and having a lug proj ectm through a slotted opening in the case, a ro er in the upper part of the hood, a Winding drum in the case and mounted on a shaft journaled in the bosses, a take-up spring attached to one boss and to the drum, a disk rotative on the other boss and having a lug, a retrieving spring attached to the second named boss and to the lug, a dog having a limited pivoted movement in the disk and projecting therefrom and also engaged by a shoulder on the hood, a hook fixed on the dog and adjusted thereby, a spring engaging the hook to move the same outward, and a ratchet on the drum engaged by the hook when the dog is released.

9. A trolley retriever comprising a drum having a ratchet, a rotative disk, a do having a limited pivotal movement in the isk, a hood having a shoulder to engage the dog, a hook ivoted on the disk and adapted to engage t e ratchet, and also held out of engagement therewith by the dog, a spring to move the hook into engagement with the ratchet, and a cord Wound on the drum and engaging the hood to move the same and release the dog.

In testimony whereof we aflix our signatures in presence of two witnesses.

4Vlitnesses:

ANNIE H. READ, EMILY M. CHAMBERLIN. 

